Leading the way are NCAA FBS recruits Gerald Owens of West Deptford, Ray Lawry of Kingsway and Marques Little of Williamstown (pictured).

Owens will head to Michigan State, while Lawry and Little both have committed to Old Dominion.

Read more about those three athletes and their deep connections to their days in youth sports in Part One of the South Jersey Football Preview in Saturday's Inquirer. Part Two will be Saturday, Sept. 7.

But those three RBs are not alone. Here's a look at some of the top returning running backs this season:

-- Gerald Owens, senior, West Deptford: This Michigan State recruit ran for 1,703 and 26 touchdowns last season.

-- Ray Lawry, senior, Kingsway: This Old Dominion recruit ran for 2,225 yards and scored 16 touchdowns in the Dragons' final four games.

-- Marques Little, senior, Williamstown: This Old Dominion recruit ran for 1,075 yards and 16 touchdowns and caught six touchdown passes for the South Jersey Group 5 champions.

-- Ben Boyer, senior, Gloucester: He ran for 1,793 yards last season and enters this season with 3,596 career yards, just 726 short of the all-time record for Camden County. He also has 43 career touchdowns, 19 short of Adam Taliaferro's Camden County record of 62.